Maine Senate President Asks Governor Out to Dinner

The new Democratic president of the Maine Senate wants to smooth relations with the state’s Republican governor over dinner. Senate President Justin Alfond sent Gov. Paul LePage a handwritten note Thursday inviting the governor and his wife to dinner with Alfond and his wife “at a place of your choosing.” Alfond’s office provided the note in response to a public records request from the Portland Press Herald. The invitation followed LePage’s cancellation Tuesday of a meeting with incoming Democratic legislative leaders to discuss issues facing the new Legislature. LePage said he would not meet with Democrats until the party called off a “tracker” hired by the Maine Democratic Party to videotape LePage’s public appearances. There was no immediate word on whether LePage had accepted the dinner invitation.